mere cat

Archive of June 2004

June 30, 2004

I Wish I’d Shot That

I point to this collection of street photography not because it’s the best work I’ve ever seen (although I think it’s awesome), but because it strikes me as exactly the kind of thing I would like to do (if I had the talent, of course). Street Snaps by Zurich-based photographer Alex Sologubenko showcases street photography in a classic style that’s often witty and sometimes downright funny. Although I have no artistic pretensions (a good position to take when you have no talent), I have to admit when I see work this good, I wonder why I bother.

June 28, 2004

The Struggle for Semantic Purity

I wasn’t looking for trouble, but as so often happens, I found it. I happened on a reference to a snippet of CSS code at Kalsey Consulting implementing CSS tabs with submenus. I thought, Cool! But then I flushed with shame when I realized that my CSS tabs, which already have submenus, implement the submenu as a separate menu. So my navigation certainly failed the semantic purity test. Since I had already gone to the trouble of making the navigation a simple list (laying it out horizontally using CSS), I thought I should go all the way and move the submenu into the main list where it belonged. That way the navigation would not only make much more sense, but would degrade nicely if the linked style sheet were missing. The only problem was how to lay out the same list both horizontally (main) and vertically (the submenu). The solution turned to be relatively straightforward, although I had to learn even more about inheritance and selectors than I already knew to get it to work correctly.

June 27, 2004

G5 PowerBooks “Close at Hand”

I read today on MacMinute, which summarized an eWeek article reporting that IBM has promised that a notebook-ready version of the G5 chip is close at hand. So a new PowerBook based on the chip may be only--oh, a year away. It will be introduced at Macworld San Francisco, but won’t actually ship until the end of March. You heard it here first.

I just put my PowerBook back in service. I had thought that the charging circuit was dead, because the battery would no longer charge, but it turned out to be the battery itself. I had to buy a VST battery charger on eBay to find that out. One new battery later and Old Faithful was back in business. In fact, I am writing this on the train using my new (very old) PowerBook.

Now that I am working on two machines, I need a way to keep files synchronized. Rsync seems to be the best way to do that. With help from these two sources, I should be able to put together something.

June 6, 2004

Return to Titanic

I just learned that Robert Ballard, the discoverer of the Titanic, is currently back at the wreck (May 27 through June 12). A National Geographic special, “Return to Titanic,” including live pictures from the bottom will be broadcast tomorrow night at 9 PM on the National Geographic Channel. For once, I wish I had cable. For more information, see National Geographic and Return to Titanic.

June 5, 2004

Memories of Reagan

It isn’t often that I can claim any kind of connection with world leaders, but when I learned of the passing of Ronald Reagan, I was reminded of a gig long ago where I breathed the same air as the President. The photo below was taken at a Congressional Ball (the White House version of the office Christmas party) probably around 1985. I was quite touched that the White House thought enough of the entertainment to have these pictures taken and distributed to members of the band.

That’s me on the left... the guy with the beard at the drums. Shaking hands with Nancy Reagan while the Gipper applauds us is Mike Carney. In the foreground is Colleen Casey. (click image for a larger version)